


what you are doing on the other side

by akajung



Series: i want to be less lonely [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 13:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13502268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akajung/pseuds/akajung
Summary: Only later that day Jeno realizes that it was the first time he’s struck a deal with a total stranger, though Donghyuck categorizes it as a new, mind-boggling form of flirting.Or, alternatively: Jeno learns how to actually go past flirting after three years of sidestepping dating in high school.





	what you are doing on the other side

**Author's Note:**

> BEFORE ANYTHING HAVE YOU SEEN THAT VLIVE WITH MARK AND JENO AND HOW THEY SUDDENLY LOST THEIR SHIT WHEN THE STAFF SAID "WHERE'S JAEMINIE WHERE'S JAEMINIE" BECAUSE YEAH SAME, GUYS, SAME. Let's just pretend that never happened since we weren't supposed to hear that lmaoooo
> 
> I seriously still miss Na Jaemin so much it's cancerous. Also, this fic is my formal apology to Markhyuck because I can never love them as much as I love Nomin HA! 
> 
> Edit: Yes, this is a story about how Nomin came to be before their appearance in ["spinning faster"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11368554)!

One thing Jeno has noticed about the boy sitting next to him in Technique: Kinesthetic Approach course class is how he sits – nobody crosses their legs quite like Jaemin does on the first day of the semester. Also, no one straight crosses their legs quite like Jaemin.

At first he didn’t really want to talk to him. He looked so immersed in the professor’s introduction the first fifteen minutes (and also because Jeno is a prideful bisexual and he’s not ready to explore the depth of the other end of the field just yet after spending his time in high school avoiding the prospect of dating that _wasn’t_ stealth dating). Then he drops his pen on Jeno’s side of the table and Jeno has to roll it back at him, to which he responds with a teethy smile.

“Thanks,” he says, before looking back at the teacher, but then he quickly looks at Jeno again, now wide-eyed, as if he didn’t really look at him the second before. Jeno gets this look a lot – he _is_ handsome, what the hell – but what he doesn’t get often is people not getting it the first time. And this guy didn’t (though he does the second time).

Jeno locks his eyes with his, unsure of what to say (a range of “What?” “What’s up?” “Never seen a pretty boy before, have you?” depending on his ego meter), but the guy says first, “What’s your name?”

Jeno gets this a lot, too. “I’m Jeno,” he says.

“Oh, cool. I’m Jaemin.”

“Yeah. Got it. Jaemin.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says again, now smiling even wider and baring even more teeth. Jeno blinks, leaning a bit further on his chair. A bit dazzled, to be honest. Jaemin seems like this honest, well-mannered guy that doesn’t use the word “dude” or “man” or “bro” to address his peers, so he makes Jeno hesitate. “Like, it’s really, _really_ nice to meet you.”

Jeno pretends he doesn’t notice how Jaemin seem to really mean that _really_.

“Ditto,” he settles, hooking his fingers on his sleeves and looks straight down to his notes, which is still empty since they have just started, anyway. He hopes Jaemin doesn’t start asking him anything about himself. Introductions tend to have his little pet peeve ruffled the wrong way.

Jaemin is _still_ staring, and now Jeno is starting to doubt the “well-mannered” adjective he’s placed on him earlier. But Jeno knows from experience that one way to stop people from staring is just to stare back until whoever gets uncomfortable back down first (obviously not him), so he catches Jaemin’s gaze readily. And _wow_ , okay, those are some visibly long lashes.

Five seconds have passed and it’s gonna start to get awkward if none of them speaks so Jeno decides to dodge the bullet before Jaemin even reaches for the gun. “Where you from?”

“Around,” Jaemin says, and Jeno doesn’t know if he’s impressed or annoyed that Jaemin’s strangely evasive without making it sound too intentional. He’s better than what Jeno thought, maybe. “You?”

And of course he has to throw the question back at Jeno. It’s only polite.

“Around,” Jeno says, too, and watches as Jaemin’s already quirking up lips quirk even more.

“Well, if we want to be friends we have to drop the ambiguity,” Jaemin offers, flicking his fingers in front of Jeno’s face. “Gotta be transparent with each other, Jeno.”

“I could say the same thing,” Jeno replies, “But I’m more of a listener than a talker, so.”

Just Jeno’s way to tell people that he doesn’t like talking about himself, don’t ask, screw off. Not that he wants Jaemin to screw off, though, more like he wants to screw _him_ – but that’s a thought for another day. Another hour.

“I can make you a great talker,” Jaemin says. “I can make anyone a great talker, actually. It’s my natural talent, I believe.”

Jeno actually snorts, but he quickly covers it to be a cough. “Wow. Okay. I mean… Yeah, why not?”

“You think I’m joking?” Jaemin demands, frowning now. Offended. “We’ll see how you fare in a few days, Jeno, just you wait.”

“Should I be worried?”

“Very.” Jaemin nods enthusiastically to make his point.

(Talking about point, at this point Jeno has already decided that maybe Jaemin has dazzled Jeno just as much as he dazzles him. Maybe.)

It wasn’t such a bad first impression.

 

Only later that time Jeno realizes that it was the first time he’s struck a deal with a total stranger, though Donghyuck categorizes it as a new, mind-boggling form of flirting.

(Jeno doesn’t like talking about himself to other people, but Donghyuck is an exception. Donghyuck’s an exception for a lot of thing, actually.)

“From my side or his side?” Jeno asks, curious.

“His, mostly,” Donghyuck says, not even looking up from his phone screen as his thumbs punch angrily on the keyboard, and Jeno wonders who else is getting bashed via LINE now. He didn’t do anything stupid lately, so it’s either Chenle or Jisung. “But you were reciprocating too, pretty boy.”

“I was?”

“Yeah, you were open,” Donghyuck says, raising an eyebrow. “Which was a bit… unusual of you, but you were open with him.”

“I was bored.” Jeno tries to justify himself. “And he was pretty interesting, too.”

“Pretty interesting or just pretty?” Donghyuck questions.

Jeno pauses, flicking a piece of salted chip across the table, before saying, “Dude got both.”

“Yup, he’s your new dating prey,” Donghyuck decides. “Or if you want to stick to your old ways, your new stealth dating prey.”

“Don’t call him _prey_ ,” Jeno chides. “It makes me sound like I’m a predator. I’m like, vegan. When it comes to dating, I don’t… attack. Or hunt. Whatever.”

“Dude, vegans kill,” Donghyuck suddenly says. “Kill plants, yeah… but still murder. You’re indirectly starving the animals.”

Jeno blinks. “You’re absurd.”

Donghyuck looks at Jeno, unimpressed. “Get creative with the insults.”

 

It’s been a week since Jeno’s designated roommate – a guy named Sanha or something – was supposed to come and fill the empty bedroom next to his, but so far, Jeno hasn’t seen the best of him yet. And so far, Jeno finds brooding all by himself on the couch doesn’t feel all that bad. Not bad at all that he begins hoping his new roommate won’t ever come at all.

“Yeah, that won’t happen,” Sooyoung, the RA of his floor, says. “We don’t let students occupy a room all by themselves here. We either switch them around or put in other available student when your roommate doesn’t show up.”

“Well, that sucks,” Jeno says, shrugging. He tries not to be too disappointed. “But can you not shove me around to people who might don’t want me?”

Sooyoung whips out her phone and scrolls down with her red-painted nails. “I’ll switch Sanha with someone else who’s also alone at the moment. Nobody’s getting shoved around.”

“That’s cool, thanks.”

A new roommate can’t be that much worse than a roommate who never shows up, Jeno thinks, but that’s not what’s on his mind when Jaemin shows up in his doorstep the next Sunday with a huge backpack and a couple of filled-to-the-brim plastic boxes.

“Hello!” he says, face as bright as the sun. “Wow, it’s really you!”

Jeno just woke up and he’s not sure he’s hearing right. Or seeing right, for that matter. There’s a exemplified form of childlike happiness standing in front of him this early in the morning. “Sorry?”

“When Sooyoung said ‘move, you’re with Lee Jeno now’ I thought it was someone else,” Jaemin says. “I thought I wouldn’t be _that_ lucky. But here I am! And I am lucky!”

It embarrassingly takes Jeno more than five seconds to register what Jaemin was saying.

“Oh.” It finally clicks on his mind, which has been frozen the last few minutes or so. “Sooyoung. You’re the new roommate?”

“I believe so.”

This isn’t the wildest thing Jeno has yet to experience, but the surprise element is still catching him off-guard. He leans on the door frame to regain some balance, though to Jaemin he might just look like he’s pretending to be cool. (Nonsense. He is cool.)

“Can I come in?” Jaemin asks, eyes twinkling with humor. “Or am I rejected?”

“No. No, of course not,” Jeno quickly replies, stepping away from the door to let Jaemin in. He looks at the plastic boxes. “Want me to help you get the stuff in?”

“Sure,” Jaemin readily answers. “Take the left one, it’s lighter. Considerably so.”

Jeno is a man, so he takes the box on the right. Jaemin grins regretfully when he sees Jeno struggles to hold the box between his hands as to not topple over and spill everything.

“What the hell is this?”

“Books.”

“You’re majoring in dance. You don’t need no books.”

Jaemin laughs out loud, and Jeno wonders if he’s heard a more musical laughter in his whole life. Donghyuck’s laugh is more of a condescending laugh than anything else, and Chenle and Jisung are no better. So the answer to that is no.

“Not college books. Mostly John Green,” he later explains, rather defensively, though he’s wearing a teethy smile on his face as per usual. “And I have this quite embarrassing attachment to Riordan’s HOO series. So please don’t criticize.”

Jeno is actually quite astonished; at first Jaemin didn’t hit him as the bookworm type, but this nerdy side of his actually makes him even more fascinating. He’s now staring at Jaemin like the smiling guy is a rare specimen he’s just discovered, an astounding mix of bliss and intelligence and warmth. Jeno has never seen Jaemin dance, but he kinda wants to now, wanting to see if he’s got more surprises underneath all those joyful grins and raised brows.

“Oh, okay,” Jeno comments. “So you read. That’s… cool.”

“Cool?” Jaemin raises an eyebrow.

“Unexpectedly cool.”

“Not geeky?”

Jeno grins. “Maybe a bit, but still cute.”

Unless Jeno suddenly need glasses, he spots a tint of pink dusted on Jaemin’s cheeks.

Wow. Did he just make _someone_ blush?

“Hm. I’m a lot more adorable than you think, so prepare to be surprised,” Jaemin finally says, after he just stared at a piece of skin on his wrist for a couple of seconds. “So which room do I sleep in?”

 

Living with Jaemin isn’t all that bad, but it’s not like Jeno’s expecting it to be bad just for the sake of it. He _did_ expect it to be quite hard to adapt to, because he’s used to thinking that he might have to spend his first year living alone, but Jaemin proves himself to be an even easier presence to be around. Not that Jeno hasn’t noticed this from the get go, but still.

Jeno can cook just fine, but Jaemin’s slightly better, and a little bit more spirited than he is when it comes to food, so they make a deal to let Jaemin handle most of cooking duty, while Jeno would be the walking dishwasher. Jaemin also takes a shitton of time showering, which means if he has morning classes Jeno will have to wake up earlier than usual to freshen up or just arrive late. But they both hate doing laundries, and they share the habit of getting unreasonably upset when the clean clothes in their closet is markedly decreasing and they’re forced to go to the Laundromat downstairs and make up for their sin of forsaking the dirty clothes until they pile up like mountains in their rooms.

The Laundromat visits are actually pretty fun because it means he and Jaemin will have more time to talk while they wait for the ungodly amount of dirty clothes they have to wash and dry. It’s happened a lot, and Jeno has gotten closer to Jaemin much more simply because they have to sit their asses down on the cold metal chairs of the Laundromat for hours and wait so they won’t show up to class in boxers.

“You never actually told me where you’re from,” Jaemin says, while he’s elbow-deep in the washing machine, trying to fish the last pair of socks out from the bottom pile. “It’s nice to have someone from my home country, you know.”

“Lies,” Jeno says, grinning. “There are like, a hundred Koreans in this uni. Surely I’m not your _only_ Korean friend.”

“Well, not only…” Jaemin says, now frowning. Jeno hopes his hand doesn’t get stuck. “I have a few Korean friends, but so far, I like you the most.”

“Really?” Jeno is rarely surprised by Jaemin’s words nowadays. “You like me?”

“A lot, actually,” Jaemin says. He looks at Jeno like he’s stupid for doubting that for a second there. “I mean, Mark’s sweet, but you kinda kicked him off the top list awhile ago.”

“Who’s Mark?”

“My high school friend,” Jaemin impatiently replies. “More importantly, you didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh,” Jeno says. Usually he would just try to dodge this kind of question because it’s still a bit too personal for his taste, as if knowing where he comes from is actually important to anyone else, but he finds himself quite comfortable to talk to Jaemin. “Incheon.”

“Incheon!” Jaemin’s face lights up as he speaks. “I love Incheon!”

“Incheon’s just Incheon,” Jeno says, but he doesn’t hate seeing the genuine glee painted on Jaemin’s face. It’s a wonder that he’s actually Jeno’s age, with how childlike he is at many times.

“I visited Wolmido when I was a kid,” he begins, and Jeno puts his chin on his hand, listening. His own clothes are currently whirring in the washing machine next to Jaemin’s. “The amusement park was really amazing! Like, even as a kid, I knew that I would never forget that moment. I tried everything. I was… well, quite satisfied. Granted, since I never visited again since.”

“Well,” Jeno says, smiling. “Maybe next time we can go home together.”

Jaemin looks even more delighted.

“Maybe this Christmas holiday?” he suggests.

“No, my mom won’t be home for Christmas,” Jeno says. “Maybe next year’s Chuseok?”

“They don’t have Chuseok here,” Jaemin says, laughing. Now he’s done taking out all of his clothes and is putting the next batch in. They seriously need to mind their clothes usage more. “I doubt we’ll be able to go home around September. You know, there’s a lot of exam weeks that month.”

“Okay, it’s _hard_ to plan vacations,” Jeno concludes. “Maybe we should just let our moms do it. Let’s introduce them to each other.”

Jaemin laughs again. “Oh my god. Isn’t this too rushed?”

“Uh… too rushed for marriage meeting?” Jeno teases, and Jaemin just laughs even more, shaking his head asd he shoves more clothes in the washing machine. “Hey. Were you serious when you said you like me?”

Jaemin doesn’t stop giggling, even after Jeno’s kicked him on the shin lightly. He’s now leaning back on the washing machine, holding his chest as his uncontrollable laughter shifts to wheezing.

“Oh, Jeno,” Jaemin finally says, breathless. “Who would _lie_ about things like that?”

 

They just kind of let things trail off like that, and neither of them really brings it up again. Jeno doesn’t because he’s happy enough that Jaemin likes him, whatever kind of ‘like’ it is, and also because he doesn’t really know how to deal with feelings and vague things like that. He’s jilted dating for such a long time that he _barely_ remembers how to flirt (he’s naturally playful, so it’s a bit to the talent). Jaemin, however, just seems to drop it off completely and acts like he’s never blurted out how captivated he is by Jeno (he still acts like Jeno is the best thing he sees everyday, though).

What kind of captivated, Jeno also doesn’t ask.

But soon it’s time to introduce Jaemin to Donghyuck, since he’s respectfully avoided visiting Jeno’s room for the last few weeks because “new roommates and flirt-mates have to familiarize themselves with each other first before a third person enters the scene”.

(“Are you _planning_ to be a third person?” Jeno demands. “Not that we’re something that a third person might ruin. Since. You know. We’re just roommates.”

“You _will_ be something,” Donghyuck says, though with the tone he’s using it sounds more like a threat than a promise. “Obviously, you two are greatly attracted to each other and _bam_ , suddenly, you’re living together! That’s K-drama shit right there! You might come in as roommates but you won’t leave as roommates, trust me.”

This would actually be wonderful if Donghyuck hasn’t broken like five promises before and has proved himself to be quite fly-by-night.)

When Donghyuck arrives on a late Thursday afternoon, rambling about his latest homework as he does, Jaemin peeks from over Jeno’s shoulders when he opens the door.

“Oh,” Donghyuck and Jaemin say at the same time, as soon as they look at each other. Donghyuck’s eyes are careful, almost scrutinizing, while Jaemin’s just curious.

“Um,” Jeno says smartly.

“Hi, Donghyuck!” Jaemin says first, greeting Jeno’s best friend with his usual wide smile, and Jeno is actually impressed when he sees that Donghyuck is evidently snatched by (just like he once did). It’s pretty hard to crack Donghyuck open. At least now Jaemin’s attractiveness is justified to him. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“You talked shit about me lots?” Donghyuck looks at Jeno, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Jeno says, grinning. “Kind of. Maybe a bit.”

“Lots, then,” Donghyuck decides.

“What? No, no, no,” Jaemin cuts in. “He actually says some nice things about you. Like how you’re the only friend he has.”

“I _am_ ,” Donghyuck wryly says. “And as mortifying as it is, he’s my only friend, too.”

“Oh, aren’t you two just so lovely,” Jaemin coos, and Jeno cringes against his hand, biting on the skin. Jaemin has this habit to fawn over the most irrelevant of things, like the dubious friendship between him and Donghyuck, or the fact that he’s from Incheon. “He says you’re pretty funny, too.”

“ _Pretty_ funny, really?” Donghyuck says, now sniggering in disbelief. “Guys, I’m the very epitome of humor. Bow before me, you bunch of no-jams.”

Jeno is glad the introduction went well, and now Donghyuck seems pretty attached to Jaemin. He’s sticking close to the taller as he moves around to make a new batch of cookies (Jaemin stress bakes), talking animatedly with his hands on his sides while Jeno watches from the couch. They both seem to get along because they talk a lot – _extroverts_ , Jeno thinks, _what strange creatures they are_.

Jeno kind of tunes out most of their conversation to check his mails until he’s heard Donghyuck say, “You would be such an _amazing_ housewife.”

Jeno whips his head up, shocked by the sudden suggestive compliment – well, it’s not _that_ suggestive, but with the things Donghyuck has said lately it definitely has a double meaning intended – and sees that Jaemin’s eyes shift to meet his before going back to Donghyuck.

_What the hell was that?_

“Oh,” Jaemin says, and Jeno suddenly feels like he’s not supposed to be here, enduring this graceless, twitching feeling inside of his stomach. Jaemin has his hand on his elbow, like how he always does whenever he gets tense. “Well, maybe you’re right.”

“I _know_ I’m right,” Donghyuck says confidently, and curse him for all eternity because he turns to Jeno with the biggest, most idiotic shit-eating grin on his face. “Don’t you agree?”

Jeno wants to hurl himself out of the window when Jaemin turns to look at him, too.

“What?” Jeno asks, choosing to play dumb (obviously), but then Donghyuck repeats the question, and he has no chance to escape. “Oh, um… Yes, he… certainly has the qualities.”

“See? Even Jeno thinks so,” Donghyuck tells Jaemin. “Maybe he’d like to experience that firsthand?”

“What are you saying,” Jeno grabs the nearest pencil from the coffee table and hurls it at Donghyuck, who dodges it quickly. The pencil bounces off into the sink, while Jaemin just grins. “Why are you here anyway?”

“To adapt,” Donghyuck simply says, shrugging. “I’ve never entered the setting of a K-drama before.”

“What _kind_ of setting now?” Jaemin asks, turning to the oven.

“Nothing,” Jeno says quickly, glaring at Donghyuck while Jaemin’s back is facing them. He makes a gesture of flicking Donghyuck out of the room, but Donghyuck just chortles silently. “Donghyuck’s trying to be funny.”

“He is funny,” Jaemin comments, pulling out trays and placing them on the counter. The smell of baked dough fills the room. “I just don’t really get the context just now. Like you guys are sharing an inside joke.”

“We are,” Donghyuck clarifies, and Jeno buries his face in his hands. Jeno’s never one to deny his own feelings – whatever it is that’s happening with them – but he still feels like dying is a good idea.

“You gotta let me in on that one, then,” Jaemin says, frowning at Donghyuck. “If we’re gonna be friends, I mean.”

(Which seems to be Jaemin’s favorite phrase, by the way, and a thing he uses to threat Jeno – kind of – a lot. “If we wanna be friends…” God, of course Jeno wants to be friends, and maybe more, because Jaemin’s an actual angel.)

The copper-haired boy just grins and rubs his hands together like a lead villain. “Maybe sometimes soon,” he suggests, looking at Jeno as he does so, and Jeno just closes his eyes and leans back, giving up completely. He’ll be sure to fight Donghyuck to death later on when they’re alone.

But that won’t happen soon, since Jaemin just feeds them cookies and asks them what do they want for lunch.

 

“That was so low of you,” Jeno says, when they meet the next day, in the cafeteria corner room, just the both of them. Renjun is currently working his shift in the campus library. Jaemin himself is still in the studio somewhere. “I know you’re always low but you just hit a new low. Like, asthenosphere kind of low.”

(Despite both of them studying Dance Performance, Jeno and Jaemin don’t really share too many classes. Jaemin’s more into jazz, so he takes a lot of courses that way. Jazz is nowhere near Jeno’s liking, so he doesn’t. He figures this is a great thing since he won’t be literally seeing Jaemin everywhere he goes.)

“What was low of me?” Donghyuck says, looking up from his phone. Jeno wonders why Donghyuck is always putting someone to the ground when it’s lunch time.

“That shit you pulled on me yesterday,” Jeno accuses. “What if he notices? That I kinda have a thing for him?”

“Oh my god, Jeno,” Donghyuck says, and Jeno knows he’s in for some deep shit because Donghyuck puts down his phone rather too vehemently. If Donghyuck suddenly decides that yelling at Jeno for his stupidity is better than bashing Jisung at lunch, he’s definitely in deep shit. “’What if he notices?’ Jeno, you fucking _live_ with him!”

“So?”

“So? _So?_ I’m gonna kill you,” Donghyuck nearly screams, making a few people turn their way, and Jeno flinches back, intensely regretting every action he’s ever taken to go against Donghyuck. It has never been a good idea. Going against Donghyuck is pure _suicide_ , and Jeno is self-destructive, but not that much. “There’s no way he hadn’t noticed that already, you injudicious fu—“

“Hyuck, chill out,” Jeno whispers, grabbing his friend by the wrist and pulling him back down to his seat. Donghyuck is still seething, glaring heatedly at Jeno. “It was a reasonable question!”

“No, it wasn’t!” Donghyuck hotly responds, though now his volume has toned down a bit. “It was a stupid one.”

“Fine, it was stupid. I was stupid, sorry, but please don’t humiliate us more than we need. We’re already quite unpopular here if you haven't noticed.”

“Says who,” Donghyuck says, now indignant that Jeno thinks they’re some types of outcasts. “I’m popular. I know a lot of people. A lot of people know me. I’m the upcoming ace of the choir club, you know. Once Taeil and Doyoung are out of the picture, it’s _my_ fucking game.”

He’s holding back the urge to roll his eyes at his best friend because even if it’s true (it _is_ , Donghyuck is a really good singer), Donghyuck won’t be widely accepted as the leader because of his short temper.

“Alright then, you’re popular. Big deal.”

“And you’re pretty famous, too. But only because you have a pretty face.”

Jeno frowns. “Okay, I’m a pretty boy.”

“Back to Jaemin,” Donghyuck now says. He seems less angry now, but still annoyed. “This is why I said sidestepping dating in high school was a bad choice. You lost your chance to gain experience! High school was actually a testing field and you chose to waste your three years there _alone_.”

“In my defense, there wasn’t that many attractive people in my school.”

Donghyuck heaves a long, tired sigh. “Reasonable. But still, you should’ve at least go on a date or something.”

“Let bygones be bygones, man,” Jeno says, rubbing his cheek with his thumb and looks at his unappetizing sandwich. “I can still flirt, it’s fine. I know how to handle a crush.”

“I hope the fuck you do,” Donghyuck mutters. “Because if you waste Jaemin, I will seriously kill you.”

“ _Waste_ Jaemin?” Jeno asks, taken aback. “How would I even do that? I’m not gonna waste him. I don’t even know how to get him, how can I waste him?”

“I don’t know, take his attraction for granted?”

“I’m not an asshole like that,” Jeno declares. “I just – never really considered dating boys. Sure, I had a crush on Taeyong hyung a while back—“

“Justified. I did, too.”

“—but actually being in close quarter to someone who’s… cheerfully attractive… and probably likes you, too… is pretty perplexing. Different.”

“You’re not even full-blown gay,” Donghyuck says. “You still like girls. There’s no reason for you to go against yourself in this one.”

Jeno frowns. “I don’t get what you’re saying.”

“Let me rephrase that,” Donghyuck says, now leaning in close to whisper to Jeno. “You’re not a true bisexual if you’ve just tried girls. You gotta try both sides.”

Jeno recoils away from Donghyuck. “What the fuck, define ‘try’.”

“ _Date_ , then,” Donghyuck revises, shrugging. “Wait, you don’t even date girls! So what the hell are you, even? Are you actually asexual?”

“Did you switch major to Sexuality Studies or something?” Jeno asks dryly. “Gonna make me the subject of your year-end thesis? Lee Jeno the confused bisexual?”

“No, I’m just trying to get you to make a move on Jaemin.”

“And I did!” Jeno defensively says. “Well, _he_ did, but—“

“What,” Donghyuck demands, nearly standing up again, but Jeno already grabs him by the hand. “ _Who_ made a move on whom?”

Jeno sighs. This is so going to be a long lunch.

 

It’s not a painful feeling because it’s mutual – Jeno thinks the both of them can agree on this. Jaemin likes him, that much is obvious. Jeno’s ego isn’t as big as Yuta’s, fortunately, but he isn’t the type to deny the truth, either: he probably likes Jaemin too, probably even more than Jaemin likes him, probably so much, much more. Jaemin is definitely pretty. Cute. Beatific personality, to boot. It doesn’t help that he lives with Jeno, that he’s hit with more and more appeals as days pass them by, appeals so powerful that it’s _impossible_ not to fall in love right there and then.

And it’s not as if Jaemin hasn’t made it clear that he’s into Jeno. The guy always throws in casual yet evocative compliments in a lot of their conversations, things like ‘oh, you’re so cute’, or ‘we should go on a date tomorrow’, or ‘I’ll see you back at home, _honey’_ (which is just cringey as hell, so cringey that Jeno wants the earth to just open and swallow him whole, let him burn in its core, when Jaemin says it _in front of their friends_ ). Jaemin never hesitates to touch him, to put a hand on his back, to lean a head against his shoulder. Jeno hesitates, but after awhile, he doesn’t anymore.

It’s not a painful feeling because they both don’t let it be. Jeno can’t read minds, so he doesn’t know how Jaemin handles it, but in his case, he treats the affection as some sort of a friend. Not a friend like Donghyuck, who is loud and rowdy and intense, but a softer friend like Renjun, but one that visits often. A friend that visits when he spots Jaemin in the same classroom, after a long week without sharing a course; a friend that visits when Jaemin switches their drinks to taste his latte, and lets him taste his thai tea mix; a friend that visits when Jaemin laughs and smiles and breathes, basically.

“You,” Chenle says, in a slow, dry tone, when Jeno shows up in cafeteria a bit later than usual with a dreamy look on his face, because Jaemin has just left him a cute drawing of them on the corner of his notebook. “Are whipped as hell, what the actual fuck.”

“Language,” Donghyuck chides, even though he’s more of a swearing mess than Chenle ever is. (Or Jisung, for that matter, who has an even pottier mouth than Jeno and Chenle combined, only when Donghyuck’s not around to scold him.)

Jeno and Jaemin’s mutual attraction has been somewhat a hot topic around his small circle of friends. When they have the chance to eat together – which is just so rare, because Renjun’s always busy and the younger two seem to hate Donghyuck and Jeno respectively, because they’re ‘uncool’ apparently – none of them ever misses the opportunity to attack Jeno with it.

“Just date already,” Jisung says, when Jeno sits down and looks at his notebook again.

“Cut him some slack, he doesn’t know how,” Donghyuck tells the group, not even sparing Jeno a glance from his food.

“Screw him, then,” Jisung suggests again, not even the slightest of surprised that Jeno doesn’t fucking know how to date. “Get straight to the good stuff.”

“How old are you again?” Jeno asks him, looking away from his notebook and to Jisung now. “Also, I _am_ trying, shut up.”

Chenle’s eyes widen. “You are trying?”

Jeno rolls his eyes, fighting back the sudden desire of throwing the plastic spoon from his lunch set at Chenle. At this distance, he would just easily dodge it, and it would bounce off the wall right back at him.

“You know what,” Jisung starts talking again, after saving his food from being stolen by Chenle’s adventurous fork. “I think you’re just using your so-called inexperience as an excuse.”

“You mean?” Jeno asks, frowning, because neither Donghyuck nor Chenle seem provoked by this, so Jisung must be talking to him. He _is_ kinda provoked.

“Yeah, an excuse not to do anything,” Jisung continues on. “About this thing you have for Jaemin, I mean.”

“That’s Jaemin _hyung_ for you, kid,” Donghyuck reminds him. “I know we’re like, just a year older, but you needn’t to disrespect us more than you already have.”

Jisung rubs the bridge his nose, grinning. “Fine, Jaemin hyung, then.”

“Elaborate,” Jeno demands.

“Well, I was basically saying that you’re just a coward, hyung,” Jisung says, not looking even the slightest of shame as he shoots Jeno down to the ground. “That even if you haven’t dated before, really, there’s no reason to _not_ start now. Nothing’s stopping you. Literally nothing.”

A pause. Then Donghyuck turns to look at Jeno. “You know, kid’s got point.”

“What if,” Jeno says. “What if I really, really don’t know what to do, you little shit?”

“Give it a try, for fuck’s sake,” Donghyuck says, while Chenle yells out a, “That’s why you should just floor it, idiot hyung!”

(Jeno wonders why he keeps getting disrespected despite being the oldest between them all.)

 

Despite what his friends have been saying, Jeno doesn’t really feel like he _has_ to address this. Jaemin likes him, he likes Jaemin – that’s enough. Though it’s a bit uncomfortable to just live in the little space of mutual infatuation, Jeno feels like he can get used to it soon if he can just endure it a little bit longer.

Though it becomes evident a few moments later that Jaemin doesn’t share Jeno’s thought.

“What are we, actually?” he asks, one day, out of the blue, when they’re both seated in the living room; Jeno is on the floor with his back on the couch, since Jaemin occupies most of the space there, all stretched legs and arms. He’s lanky and thin, which makes him look even more ganglier (despite his cute ass face).

Jeno, whose focus has been taken by the stupid mobile game in his phone since the last few hours, frowns. “What are we what?”

Jaemin noisily exhales, but patiently repeats what he just said.

“I still don’t get what you’re saying,” Jeno says, though he has a vague idea. He’s not sure if he likes it, or if he wants to go down with it.

Jaemin’s hands are suddenly on Jeno’s shoulders, gripping so hard that it shocks Jeno and nearly makes him drop his phone. “What now?” Jeno says in false irritation, though Jaemin knows better than anyone that if Jeno can handle Donghyuck’s temper, he can definitely handle his own.

“So I like you, right?” Jaemin says, firm and shameless, eyes on Jeno’s. There’s not even an ounce of doubt or shame on his face, and Jeno wonders how he does it, how does he keep his feelings so well-maintained yet visible at the same time. Gotta be talent or something.

“…I know?” Jeno responds tentatively. “I like you, too.”

“Then what the hell are you waiting for?” Jaemin demands. “Why don’t we just date for real, I mean.”

Jeno pauses, mind going empty for a couple of seconds as he stares at Jaemin’s face on top of his. The question remains on the back of his head. Really, why don’t they?

“I don’t know, why don’t we?” Jeno asks, shrugging Jaemin’s hands off his shoulders. “Let’s just date, then. If you want.”

“Of course I _want_ to,” Jaemin says, “Ever since I saw you in that goddamn classroom.” And naturally, he grabs Jeno’s again by his shoulders and pull him in with surprising strength, crashing their lips together in one messy kiss. Jeno doesn’t have enough time or space to think too much about the kiss – Jaemin tastes good and kisses well, that’s it.

“Wow,” Jeno says, a few minutes later, after Jaemin lets him pull away, slipping out of his abnormally strong grasp. He’s sure he’s grinning like a fool now. “Wow, you surprised me.”

“With what?” Jaemin raises an eyebrow, half-smirking now.

“With that—“ Jeno makes a wild gesture. “With that sudden assertiveness.”

Jaemin laughs out loud, throwing his head back and sliding down the couch. “I am assertive, I thought we all have agreed on that a long time ago.”

“True,” Jeno says, and he now tries to remember when was the last time he kissed someone (probably seventh grade?), and wonders if it’s wrong of him if he wants to kiss Jaemin again, just for the sake of it. “Can I kiss you again?”

“What? Hungry for more?”

“Ravenous,” Jeno confirms, and Jaemin laughs again, loud and cheerful.

“Come here, then.”

(Needless to say, Jeno makes up for all the years he’s spent missing out on love that one evening. He feels a little more experienced now.)

 

“Can’t believe I had to be the one who asked you out first,” Jaemin comments, hours later, after they toned down on the kissing a bit and decided that maybe they need to bond in other ways other than choking each other by smooching like the world’s going to end tomorrow.

“Told you I haven’t done all this dating bullshit since high school,” Jeno says rather defensively. “I know how to flirt, I’m just not sure of how to go past that.”

“Still, though,” Jaemin says, pushing Jeno’s fringe out of his forehead and leans in to leave a peck on the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t matter. I can help you catch up.”

Jeno doesn’t say it out loud, but he quite agrees.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I tried not making this too long because I wanted it to just be short and sweet and also because I can't imagine a world out there where Jeno and Jaemin's love isn't mutual ;;;___;;; I wanted the explore the beauty and vagueness of mutual pining as much as possible and Nomin is perfect for this!! I also didn't really give much space or details with the plot, though I really wanted to elaborate more on Jeno's past and his reluctance to talk about himself, I just let it go and I hope things ended up quite well regardless :-)
> 
> By the way, with this piece the series has officially ended! I appreciate the support everyone has shown from day one! (Though since college AUs are cool, I'll probably write more of them in the future!!) :-D 


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